T-Hrvatski Telekom, (Reuters: THTC.L, HT.ZA; Bloomberg: THTC LI, HTRA CZ, ‘the Group’), Croatia’s leading telecommunications provider, announces an update on the 6% fee on mobile networks services, following legislation passed today by the Croatian Parliament.
The Croatian Parliament has approved the Government’s proposal to abolish the 6% fee on revenues generated by mobile services, including SMS, MMS and voice, to be payable by the operator.
The Act on the Termination of the Fee for the Provision of Services in Mobile Electronic Communications Networks Act was approved today. As a consequence, the 6% fee will be terminated with effect from 1 July 2012.
The 6% fee was originally introduced on 1 August 2009 as a crisis measure and was initially abolished with effect from 1 January 2012. Subsequently, the newly elected Government proposed and Parliament reinstated the fee with effect from 26 January 2012. This had been expected to remain in force until 30 June 2013, when Croatia is scheduled to accede to European Union.
The impact of the 6% tax in 2011 was HRK 145 million (2010: HRK 163 million) and in Q1 2012 it was HRK 21 million (Q1 2011: HRK 34 million).